Golf Club Fitting

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Closed face at impact..

I am having a major issue. I use a neutral grip, but before I begin my take away, I always loosened and re-tighten my hands. I've always done this, and now when I undo and redo my hands just before I swing, I am closing my club face and hitting a low hook with all of my irons off the toe and my driver is absolutely HORRENDOUS. I am literally topping the ball and hitting the ground before the ball. It's the worst time I've ever had in my life golfing. I went from hitting my driver, irons and wedges the best I ever had to playing the worst golf in my life. It's not even fun anymore. I understand the problem, but this habit of undoing and retightening my hands/grip just before I swing is completely chiseled in my brain. I simply can not stop changing grip pressure!!! I tried opening the club face so I can undo and redo my grip, causing the club face to become squared, and it helps a little. The only issue is that sometimes it will; 1. result in a fade off the heel (lose distance), 2. be a nice high, straight shot, 3. it will be a hard pull hook. As a result, I also cannot shape a draw or fade when I need to. What can I do to hold my neutral grip and stop closing the face the instant before I begin my swing? AHHH!!!

I am having a major issue. I use a neutral grip, but before I begin my take away, I always loosened and re-tighten my hands. I've always done this, and now when I undo and redo my hands just before I swing, I am closing my club face and hitting a low hook with all of my irons off the toe and my driver is absolutely HORRENDOUS. I am literally topping the ball and hitting the ground before the ball. It's the worst time I've ever had in my life golfing. I went from hitting my driver, irons and wedges the best I ever had to playing the worst golf in my life. It's not even fun anymore. I understand the problem, but this habit of undoing and retightening my hands/grip just before I swing is completely chiseled in my brain. I simply can not stop changing grip pressure!!! I tried opening the club face so I can undo and redo my grip, causing the club face to become squared, and it helps a little. The only issue is that sometimes it will; 1. result in a fade off the heel (lose distance), 2. be a nice high, straight shot, 3. it will be a hard pull hook. As a result, I also cannot shape a draw or fade when I need to. What can I do to hold my neutral grip and stop closing the face the instant before I begin my swing? AHHH!!!

I had a problem with snap hooking before. I hit it dead straight (with a small fade on the driver and fairways because I know my swing path is a little outside in)

One is you should never re-loosen or tighten your grip at all during the swing.

Start with ball position. Your head should be behind the ball, looking at it (about even with your shirt pocket); ball position relative to the upper body should be the same for all clubs (foot position and stance width is what dif. The reason you are having so many swing problems is you are standing too close to the ball (arms should be extended slightly but you can't be so far from the ball that you want to fall over).

1. Your takeaway is to the outside (closed clubface) and your swing path is outside in. The swing path should be inside-out.

2. The snap hook is caused by not shifting the weight AND coming over the top with a closed clubface. "Over the top" also causes a slice when the clubface is pointed at the target.

3. The reason many people slice is they try to hit it too hard (check out Paul Wilson's anti-slice videos at Revolution Golf). You should watch these.

4. If you try to take an inside-out swing path being too close to the ball, it results in a heel hit or a shank.

5. Also what causes weight shift problems is too big of a backswing or the infamous front foot lifting off the ground.

A teaching pro at www.allexperts.com gave me a tip for front arm motion. Raise your entire left arm (for righties) and hold it at shoulder level as to shake hands (palm vertical). On the backswing the entire arm rotates so palm is down. On the follow through. the palm is up.

There are also a couple check points in the swing.

1. at waist height on the backswing, the club is still on the target line and perpendicular to the ground.

2. at waist height on the follow through, the club is still on the target line and perpendicular to the ground.

I golfed again yesterday and found that every single ball I hit, albeit with my driver, irons or wedges, was off the toe. When I was playing the best golf of my life just a month ago, one thing I was doing that I knew I have not been doing lately is my head has not been still. I didn't realize it until yesterday that my head has been swaying. As a result, at contact, no matter how hard I tried, I could not keep my head down. I searched articles about hitting the ball off the toe, and found a video on youtube. It said toe hits are a result of a poor spine angle. I looked up another video by Mark Crossfield on spine angle, and he attributed it to hip swaying. Needless to say, I was swaying my hips during my back swing. I worked on keeping them still during the takeaway, and bam. My head was still and I could watch the club hit the ball. Within 5 minutes I was able to shape a draw and/or a fade with my irons. No more thin toe shots. Haven't hit my driver yet. Will tomorrow. I'm sure I will get better results. Golf is a funny game. Thanks for the tips, though. reading your tip of ball position. I had the ball too forward in my stance with my short irons.

I golfed again yesterday and found that every single ball I hit, albeit with my driver, irons or wedges, was off the toe. When I was playing the best golf of my life just a month ago, one thing I was doing that I knew I have not been doing lately is my head has not been still. I didn't realize it until yesterday that my head has been swaying. As a result, at contact, no matter how hard I tried, I could not keep my head down. I searched articles about hitting the ball off the toe, and found a video on youtube. It said toe hits are a result of a poor spine angle. I looked up another video by Mark Crossfield on spine angle, and he attributed it to hip swaying. Needless to say, I was swaying my hips during my back swing. I worked on keeping them still during the takeaway, and bam. My head was still and I could watch the club hit the ball. Within 5 minutes I was able to shape a draw and/or a fade with my irons. No more thin toe shots. Haven't hit my driver yet. Will tomorrow. I'm sure I will get better results. Golf is a funny game. Thanks for the tips, though. reading your tip of ball position. I had the ball too forward in my stance with my short irons.

I started playing again in 2006. For about 2 years, my score had been around 95-100 for 18. Short game was fine but main issue was driving (either topped it or snap hooked), fairways (tended to pull it). I used an 11* fairway driver (Trimetal) up until 2007 because I couldn't hit a driver at all. My dad gave a tip in late 2008 that helped driving, fairways and hybrids immensely (stand taller) but started having trouble with irons - the problem was lie angles were flat. A Golf Tec video showed I was turning my hips 60* and I had to get rid of the old school "bad habit" of the left foot lifting off the ground. Someone playing with me noticed I was hanging back.

I followed the Swing Surgeon (www.swingsurgeon.com) videos and went to a more compact backswing. Also followed Paul Wilson's tips at Revolution Golf.

I know how you feel. I had been playing some pretty good golf between 2009 and early 2012, generally shooting 85 or so on a regulation course and somewhere around +3 for 9 on an exec course. Most of this is attributed to proper fit on golf clubs and set makeup. Biggest change was going to a 13* draw driver in 2011 because I can put the ball dead center in the fairway.

I had a slump between July and Nov last year. Main issue was hitting low pulls with the fairways and hybrids and missing by 10 yards left with irons. First thing was I pulled a muscle on my right bicep and couldn't swing a golf club for 2 months before. What I found out was that I had been taking the club to the inside on the backswing. The other thing was that my left hand was turning over at address, causing an overly strong grip (I have a neutral grip now).

Fairway wood play has been pretty good. Hybrid play was a matter of fit (I ended up with A3 and shaft length of 38" on the 27H) and I also was playing the ball too far forward (caused pulls or fades).

Scores are actually getting better than what I had in 2011. I beat my record at National City (shot +1 recently for 9) and the Oaks North South Course (+3 twice). Other than getting off to a rough start (with a bogey and a triple), I was -2 for the last 7 holes Friday.

I found out that if I keep my eye on the ball all the way through, my lower body stays quiet on the backswing, the hips start the downswing. The moment I let my head follow the clubhead back is when the swing faults start coming. I would say my worst habit may be inadvertently following through to the left). If I remember to stay on the target line (or foot path if trying to draw or fade) during follow through, the ball goes where I want it to.

Ball position - relative to my torso, the head is slightly behind the ball with the inner part of the shirt pocket. What changes is position of feet and width of stance - ball appears in center with short irons, slightly ahead of center with hybrids, about 1-2" behind the front heel with the fairways and on the instep with the driver.

The other smart decision was going back to using a 9 wood for my 170-175 shot (what I had been doing for the past 2 years is doing a choke shot with the 7W or 19F because I had a hard time with a 21H). I was helping a friend clean his shed and happened upon a Steelhead III 23* 9 wood - no issues hitting it.

I too find that if I keep my head still and focused on the ball during my backswing that I can make better contact with the ball. I've also had some issues with a low hook with my hybrid and FW wood. My driver has been very iffy lately. Two weeks ago I was hitting the ball with a very high flight dead straight or with a slight fade 260-270. Now I am hitting the ground behind the ball and am just not making good contact. My ball flight is also very low. I dealt with low hooks yesterday. Last week I hit ever single club in my bag off the toe. Literally about 1cm from the edge of every club, and I was standing closer to the ball than I ever had. This is my second full year of golfing, but when I am striking the ball the way I know I can (which isn't always-that's for sure), I can shoot in the low/mid 80s. My irons and wedges (when striking the ball well) are spot on from 170 and in. Anything involving my 4 iron outside 170 or my hybrid or FW wood drastically reduces the amount of greens I hit. My chipping/pitching I am happy with. I usually chip the ball close to the png, but my putting is absolutely atrocious. I miss about half of 4-5' putts. 80% of putts 10 to 15 feet, maybe 1% of putts outside 15 feet, and anything outside of 20 feet is an automatic 3 putt. It is horrible. I go from being within 10 feet in 2 and I 3 putt for bogey. The only way I birdie a hole is if I stick it within 2 feet or I somehow miraculously make a putt. Probably around 38-42 putts per round. I'm lucky if I 1 putt one to two holes. There is no feel whatsoever. That is what's most frustrating..

I too find that if I keep my head still and focused on the ball during my backswing that I can make better contact with the ball. I've also had some issues with a low hook with my hybrid and FW wood. My driver has been very iffy lately. Two weeks ago I was hitting the ball with a very high flight dead straight or with a slight fade 260-270. Now I am hitting the ground behind the ball and am just not making good contact. My ball flight is also very low. I dealt with low hooks yesterday. Last week I hit ever single club in my bag off the toe. Literally about 1cm from the edge of every club, and I was standing closer to the ball than I ever had. This is my second full year of golfing, but when I am striking the ball the way I know I can (which isn't always-that's for sure), I can shoot in the low/mid 80s. My irons and wedges (when striking the ball well) are spot on from 170 and in. Anything involving my 4 iron outside 170 or my hybrid or FW wood drastically reduces the amount of greens I hit. My chipping/pitching I am happy with. I usually chip the ball close to the png, but my putting is absolutely atrocious. I miss about half of 4-5' putts. 80% of putts 10 to 15 feet, maybe 1% of putts outside 15 feet, and anything outside of 20 feet is an automatic 3 putt. It is horrible. I go from being within 10 feet in 2 and I 3 putt for bogey. The only way I birdie a hole is if I stick it within 2 feet or I somehow miraculously make a putt. Probably around 38-42 putts per round. I'm lucky if I 1 putt one to two holes. There is no feel whatsoever. That is what's most frustrating..

Think straight back on the backswing, start the downswing by transfering your weight to the front foot and swing from the inside. Keep your head still even as you transfer your weight. With irons, make sure you are taking a divot appropriate to the club used. With the driver, it especially important to keep the head back and swing from the inside. Also limit the hip rotation in the backswing.

For putting, hit the practice green and work on two putting from anywhere. This will give you a sense of feel. The first putt, get it to the hole, don't leave it short. The second putt should be in gimme range. Try up hill and down hill putts, and primarily try to get the pace. Once you have that, the line almost becomes self evident.

There's one tip I saw from Revolution Golf (Paul Wilson) - if you are doing the backswing properly, you should have difficulty talking at the top of the backswing. Quiet lower body on backswing, active lower body on downswing. Eye on the ball from start of backswing through contact.

I've used Swing Surgeon (Don Trahan) and Revolution Golf (Paul Wilson) for my swing. DT had this thing called "in da mitt and tru da tree" where one imagines the club going into a catcher's mitt on the backswing and swinging straight up on follow thru. DT also relates golf swing to other sports like bowling or pitching a softball (with the right hand for righties).

Hip rotation on the backswing is a power killer.

A lot of the pros are going to shorter backswings where the arms are at shoulder height. Some of the LPGA has even embraced Stack N Tilt.